Ramblings on bookish matters. Horror and fantasy have the lion’s share, but not exclusively. Occasional interviews, art posts and bumblings.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Cover art - "Aickman's Heirs" edited by Simon Strantzas

I
must admit that I am not very familiar with Robert Aickman’s fiction, besides a couple of short stories I didn’t
get many chances to read his works. However, I have full confidence in Undertow Books and Michael Kelly, my experience with “Shadows & Tall Trees” magazine has been nothing by the best,
while the first volume of “Year’s Best
Weird Fiction”, the latest release of this small publishing house, looks
extremely promising. You may rightfully ask why I am talking about these two.
Well, Undertow Books recently announced its next scheduled book, “Aickman’s Heirs”, edited by Simon Strantzas and due to be released
on spring 2015. As the title suggests this collection of short stories is
dedicated to Robert Aickman and his influence on the weird fiction and, like I
said, while I am not familiar with his works I am very interested to see what Undertow
Books has in store with this title. Not only that, but although there are not
many more pieces of information about this anthology at the moment the cover
artwork for “Aickman’s Heirs” sparked my imagination instantly and made it go
wild. Born from the talented brush of Yaroslav Gerzhedovich this is one of
the most evocative covers I’ve seen lately, deeply atmospheric and utterly enthralling.
Creating a complete story by itself Yaroslav Gerzhedovich’s artwork spellbound
me into profound admiration. Add the excellent lettering and the final result
is absolutely wonderful.

Speaking
of Robert Aickman and cover artwork, Faber & Faber published this year new
editions of four of Robert Aickman’s short stories collections, “Dark Entries”, “The Unsettled Dust”, “Cold
Hand in Mine” and “The Wine-Dark Sea”,
with some excellent covers as well. A bit more crowded than “Aickman’s Heirs”
but very good nonetheless.